MORE than 200 young people had their hearts screened for free when Cardiac Risk in the Young (CRY) visited Barrow.

Brought to town by the Dan Hughes Memorial Fund, CRY screened 220 people, aged between 14 and 35, at Hawcoat Sports Club  Everyone involved had an electrocardiogram (ECG) screening and will receive their results in the next two to three weeks. 

BAE contractor David Hughes has pushed for a cardiac screening event in Barrow for years. He is from Stoke-on-Trent but visits the Furness peninsula regularly as part of his work on Astute-class submarines through Rolls Royce. His son Dan Hughes died suddenly in March 2015 aged just 28 years old. David said there were 'no warning signs' before Dan's death.

Similar cases, named Sudden Adult Death Syndrome, affect young people under the age of 35 an average of 12 times a week. According to CRY, one in 300 people screened by them has a potentially fatal hidden heart condition. 

Over £550,000 has been raised in Dan's memory to fund heart screening and purchasing items such as a £25,000 new van to add to CRY's fleet of mobile screening units.

David said: "Daniel lived his life perfectly clean and healthy. We talked to him the night before he died and if somebody said to me that this is the last time you will see him alive I would have laughed. 

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"You can't see inside what is going on in your heart." 

Before the screening sessions, the crew of HMS Agincourt announced CRY as a partner charity having been introduced through David. Senior naval officer Lt Cdr Andy Rodgers met the CEO of CRY Dr Steven Cox, and brought a memorial shield from HMS Agincourt as a gesture of friendship. 

“I am very grateful to have had the opportunity to speak to Lt.Cdr Mark Rodgers about Dan and the work that CRY does to reduce Young Sudden Cardiac Death. Having been involved with the build of HMS Agincourt myself we are immensely proud and honoured as a family that Dan – via CRY – will have an association with the submarine throughout her time in service with the Royal Navy," David added.